213 Miles From Shea

This should really come as no surprise. It seems like routinely now that every few years, that every Major League team goes through a change of Batting Practice Jersey, starting back in the mid 2000's (or at least that is when I started to notice that all teams change the uniforms at the same time). It's not just the Jerseys, but the hats as well now change at the same time too. It was speculated after last season that there would be a Jersey change, since the hats changed last season, and the BP Jerseys seemed to be unchanged for an extended period of time.

Anyway some background on BP Jerseys. They started as warm-up uni's in the early 80's. The common theme for the Mets early BP uniforms were blue. In fact, I have only been able to find one BP that was not blue, but I didn't search for too long. Anyway, let's take a look at a few early BP uniforms. Here's one, another one, and finally this one.

Anyway one of the first BP uniforms that had a standard model across the league would be this one, which is orange. Then after that the Mets then switched back to Blue BP's. The main complaint about the latter Jersey would be the orange underarms. The second complaint is almost always about the amount of black in the uniform, as if it was our third color.

Well here is our new uniform this upcoming season. First off, it is an upgrade from last year's uniform. However it still could use some work. It would look better without the armpit black, which is probably to highlight the cool base technology. Also, the “Mets” shouldn't be black. But this will be a debate we will continue to have for a long time.

We continue our journey of possible role players in the bullpen with Taylor Buchholz. Buchholz is going for a relief job, although he can start if needed. Right now, due to the crowded rotation, Johan's eventual return, and Dillon Gee (which would bump out Capuano to the pen), Buchholz is probably on the outside looking in right now of the 25 man roster (and that is not in anyway a bold prediction). Before we get into the stats and team biography of Buchholz, its worthy to note, since we were all probably thinking it, Taylor is only a distant cousin of Clay Buchholz.

So Biography. Buchholz (age 29) was drafted by the Phillies in the 6th round of the 2000 MLB draft. He was part of the package in 2003 that landed Billy Wagner from the Astros. He was brought up to the majors in 2006, and that was really the last time he was used as a starter. In December of 2006 he was part of a package sent to the Rockies for Jason Jennings. At the start of 2007, the Rockies tried him as a starter, but then after 8 games switched him to the pen. In 2008 he found success as the set-up man for the Rockies and was actually selected to the All-Star game.

Then things go down for a bit, which is why he is now a Met (bargain pitcher). He missed all of 2009 due to Tommy John surgery and was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays. He was then picked off of waivers by the Red Sox. Finally, he signed a one year deal with the Mets.

Anyway the question is what pitcher do we have. Do we have the pitcher that was an amazing reliever in 2008, or do we have something else (since he had limited time in 2010, it is hard to extrapolate what he was last year):

Career – 19-21, 4.39 ERA, 285 IP, 6.4 K/9, 2.6 K/BB

2010 – 1-0, 3.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 6 BB, 9 K

2008 – 6-6, 2.17 ERA, 66.1 IP, 3.11 K/BB, 7.6 K/9

It is really hard to ignore those 2008 numbers but as we all know with the nature of relievers, some years they are fantastic, some years they aren't. However with success in his past, any strong success he shows in camp this year may be taken more seriously. If anything, he is a story line to watch in camp this Spring.

MLB.com is pushing their 2011 Authentic Collection now, because well that seems to be what the MLB does. I used to have a really jaded opinion about it, but I'm starting to cross over to indifferent about the entire situation. Anyway, for those you who don't pay attention to these things, because there is no reason to pay attention to these things, the authentic line refers to anything a player wants to wear on the field. It then gets an MLB/Team logo, usually gets an authentic patch (if it is actually clothing) and then gets marked up and sold for a lot of money to consumers.

This covers Jerseys and hats (obvious) but also covers those “magic” bracelets and necklaces (no scientific proof they work). That range includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, before game items, spring training items, various jackets, other weather hats, etc.

Anyway, for some reason, the Mets actually have two jackets. Which means they get to sell two different jackets. Now, it isn't like one jacket is for cold weather and the other is luke-warm weather (although that exists as well). No these jackets are just inverses of each other.

One jacket is the team jacket, the other is the team road jacket. Yep. We have home and away jackets. It just begs for us to rehire Rick Peterson so he can wear more than one jacket.

So yes, the New York Mets. Home to money scandals, off the field issues, and two official winter jackets in the authentic collection (at least we aren't one of those teams that have home

and away

batting practice caps).

The Mets selected Pedro Beato out of the Orioles organization in the most recent Winter Leagues meeting. The connections of Beato with the Mets already are pretty funny, but not ha-ha funny. Beato was actually originally drafted into the Mets organization out of high school, but then decided to go to college. When the Mets drafted him in the Rule V, he was on the Norfolk roster, which used to be the Mets AAA team.

Anyway, Pedro is right handed pitcher who was converted into a relief pitcher last season. The will be 24 year old then went through a major statistical change in terms ERA last season. With the exception of his first season (3.63 ERA) every other season he had an ERA above 4, but last season his ERA was a sparkling 2.11 ERA. Here are some stat lines:

Minors Career- 24-30, 504.0 IP, 4.21 ERA, 1.92 K/BB, 6.2 K/9

2010 – 4-0, 2.11 ERA, 43 G, 59.2 IP, 16 SV, 19 BB, 50 K, 7.5 K/9, 2.63 K/BB

Last year his stats were fantastic. That K/BB and K/9 would be great in any pen, and his K/9 is pretty consistent with his career numbers. When it comes to players we would pull out of the pen, which Beato is trying to be, we need players who can get strikeouts and get out of jams they will be walking into. I'm assuming that Beato will be coming into camp with a slight advantage already, considering he is a rule V pick. If he has a strong Spring, and has comparable numbers to players on the Mets staff with options, he will probably win out. Like what was stated yesterday, we are looking for this year's Joe Smith. The surprise in the bullpen that gives the team the ability to play meaningful games late in the seasons. The stats suggest that could be Pedro Beato, and it would be really great for it to be him, especially considering that he is a Brooklyn native.

Very few things can make it harder to like a person, than association with a terrible event, which is what the Mets are in right now.

I want to write a response to a very particular viewpoint that has been flying around really all winter. The statement is the Mets didn't spend money this offseason, because they didn't have it either due to losses from Madoff (before last week) or now due to money that may have to spent in a settlement (since this past week).

If the above statement is true, then I think a really important question must be asked. From a baseball standpoint, is a budget a bad thing?

In order to understand the argument I am about to make, I will need to create a quasi-strawman to compare to. I know this is weak for making an argument, but I feel compelled to do this (and explicitly state it) so you the reader can understand the scope of my argument. If we didn't have the money problem, then we would spend a lot of money to get high tier free agents, like Cliff Lee, in order to give us the best chance of winning now. That is essentially the backbone of the strawman one can derive from saying that the Madoff situation is preventing us to spend money.

Ultimately, I feel the Mets have done something very mature this offseason in that they didn't spend that much money. Specifically, they didn't have to deal out extended deals to players. That is the scary thing with the spending money approach. You sign a lot of players, to play for a long period of time, and then you are stuck with them on your roster, plaguing your team in later years. The Red Sox and Yankees will both have to deal with this in two seasons when the players they locked in now are aging, but cannot be replaced due to the amount they are owed.

Here lies the basis of my very limited scope argument. If the Madoff situation is the only thing preventing the Mets from spending a lot of money, then in the long term development of the organization, this is a good thing. It is much easier to build a dynasty when broken pieces can be replaced, not have to be kept.

The problem with the above statement is the limit on it. It completely ignores the Minaya era when all we did was spend, spend, spend, and not really make any significant progress in the latter years. To say that the Madoff issue is the only thing keeping us from spending is to say that the Madoff issue is the reason we are not doing things Minaya's way. Personally, I don't believe that. Situations like this are complicated, gray and tend to have a good amount of reasons.

That begs the question why did I write this to begin with? Well I watching a video about situation on the Wall Street Journal, that essentially said in the end that the signs of the Mets were in trouble became clear when we didn't spend money this offseason. While their may be some degree of merit in that claim, it ignores that the Mets also knew they needed a change in offseason strategy, which also prompted a change in spending patterns.

The only substantial, wide scope claim you can draw from this is spending less is an important lesson for the Mets right now, as we learn how to make a team that can always run on working parts and if the Madoff situation is reason why we had to do this (and I'm not convinced that it is), then the Madoff situation was good for the Mets.

As the days tick down to Spring Training, we finally move into the 40 man roster with Manuel Alvarez, a 25-year old, right-handed pitcher.

Manuel started his career in the Washington Nationals organization. After missing the entire 2005 season due to injury, he pitched in 14 games in the Nationals Gulf Coast Rookie Team. The Mets then signed him in 2007 and assigned him to the VSL. He has bouncing around the Rookie level and A until last season where he pitched in A+, AA and AAA before the end of the season:

2010 Total – 56 G, 78.2 IP, 2.17 ERA, 12 BB, 84 K, 9.6 K/9, 7.00 K/BB

Alvarez has always had a good K/9 (career 7.4) but last year he just took off. He landed himself on the radar in a big way when in St. Lucie he didn't allow any runs in 25.2 innings over 18 games and 9 saves. He was then promoted to AA where he had a “human” 2.87 ERA.

While he remains an outside chance to make the roster coming out of Spring Training, you have to think with the performance he had last year there will be a lot of eyes on him in Buffalo (I'm expecting him to start the season there), especially for the inevitable bullpen shuffle. If he can duplicate what he did in the lower leagues and what he did all last year in AAA, then he could be a big deal. In some ways, I'm hoping for him to be this years “Joe Smith” as a surprise out of camp that makes a significant impact on the team.

There are two things working against him. He is already 25, so some degree the clock is starting to tick on him. If he is going to make a move into the majors, it should really happen soon. The main thing against him is the amount of pitchers the Mets need to keep on their roster (other wise they would lose them), like Beato who is also 25. He needs to cross over that hurdle, but at least he is on the 40 man, which is one major hurdle crossed.

Today's profile is the last of the non-roster invitees players to go through this series, and for some reason it seems fitting to give that honor to former – Mets killer, Willie Harris. Harris was essentially the 4th OF for the Nationals but for some reason every time he played the Mets he became Willie Mays with his defense and his bat. If the minor league signing of Harris has been good for anything, at least he will not be able to play against us in the regular season.

And we are talking a Met killer here. There have been multiple times were the Mets were trailing the Nationals late in a game, and who ever the Mets batter would hit a line drive, a line drive that could put the Mets ahead, and some how every time Willie Harris was there to make a Sports Center-esque catch. This year he will be battling in camp to make it on the 40 man and then to Queens. The main obstacle in his path is Scott Hairston, who is a similar player to Harris, and has a major league contract. Here are some Harris stats:

2010 – 224 AB, 132 G, 25 R, 41 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 32 RBI, .183 BA, .291 OBP, .362 SLG

Career – .239 AB, .327 OBP, .357 SLG

Here's a surprising nugget of information. Since Harris has been in the bigs (2001), he has hit only 37 homers, and 10 of them came last year. Aside from his small power boost last season, his numbers are pretty much inline with what we expect from him. If he does make the team, it will really be by glove alone because he does not bring much game with his bat. Personally, I feel the Mets have a lot more options than Willie Harris to turn to, so unless he has an amazing Spring Training, I don't see him going north with the team (that is not a bold prediction at all) but I wouldn't rule out a midseason call-up if necessary.

Russ Adams makes another return to Mets Spring Training this year, this time around with some “connections” that he didn't have before. He was a member of the Blue Jays organization a few years back when new Mets Front Office Member Ricciardi was the GM when he informed Adams in 2007 that he would have to work his way back to the Major League Roster. Another fun fact about Adams is he hit a grand slam (his first one) against Jonathan Papelbon.

Career Majors – 884 AB, .247 BA, .313 OBP, .372 SLG

2010 Minors – 383 AB, 58 R, 101 H, 28 2B, 2 3B, 16 HR, 58 RBI

Russ Adams fits in the Mets plans essentially in the same place as he did last season. He is a back up infielder looking to break on to the team to provide some help on the bench or in an injury situation. However he is also blocked by a good amount of players, so similar to Dusty Ryan, it is difficult to see how Adams, as a non-roster player, will be able to make it on to the team, or even the 40 man.

I guess what I am getting at is right now he projects as a less talented, low ceiling, decade older Ruben Tejada, in terms of the rolls he can play. Since Tejada will be starting in AAA in order to gain experience, I just don't see in the long term where Adams fits in, other than more depth for this team.

14 Days Until Spring Training!

We are down to only two weeks to go! Anyway yesterday we met one of the options for back up back up catcher the Mets have in Raul Chavez, who is probably the leading player for that position. He also has competition from a new acquisition the Mets made in November, Dusty Ryan. Ryan will be 25 this year and has logged 70 major league AB's in his two seasons in the majors (2008-09). In his first major league AB he hit a homer. Anyway here are some statistics:

Career Majors – 70 AB, .257 BA, .338 OBP, .386 SLG, 7 R, 18 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI

2010 Minors – 261 AB, .199 BA, .333 OBP, .349 SLG, 52 H, 18 2B, 7 HR, 30 RBI, 50 BB

There is an interesting trend that is popping up in his stats is his OBP tends to be way up compared to his BA, he seems to walk a lot. It is nice to see a batter with patience, but one would hope that his batting average would be better. I don't really see a scenario that Dusty comes up over Chavez (unless of course Chavez gets injured or something). He would also have to step over Nickeas who is on the 40 man. I just don't see Ryan as really making the team, unless of course he becomes Ted Williams during Spring Training.

15 Days Until Spring Training!

On today's continuing tour of non roster invitees, we take a break from pitchers and look at a catcher. Raul Chavez was a recent signing for the Mets to add some depth in the catching position. Going into 2011, it looks like right now that Thole will be the main catcher with Paulino getting some back up time. That being said, the nature of the position is prone to injuries and back ups in the catcher position are always needed. Generally this is a position (the back up back up catcher) that turns over in each organization quite frequency and this year it falls on Chavez.

Chavez will 38 this season and in his time in the majors (11 seasons) he has played major leagues with the Expos, Mariners, Astros, Orioles, Pirates and the Blue Jays. According to his wiki page, Chavez is a defense catcher with a good arm, and not exactly the best bat (but honestly, there are very few good hitting catchers). Here are some useful stats.

Career- .231 BA, .266 OBP, .304 SLG, .570 OPS

2009 (Majors) – 51 G, 159 AB, .258 BA, 10 R, 41 H, 8 2B, 2 HR, 15 RBI

2010 (Minors) – 55 G, 200 AB, .210 BA, 18 R, 42 H, 13 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI

So, like hinted to earlier, not a lot of offense, but that isn't what Chavez is supposed to be bring to the table. He brings his arm and his glove, and hopefully we wont have to see it, but if we do, there are worst players to come up and provide back up support for the back up.